Jet-propelled aircraft with tiltable jet units



March 7, 1950 J, MADDEN 2,499,401

JET-PROPELLED AIRCRAFT WITH TILTABLE JET UNITS Filed June 28, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. kmas' I Madden March 7, 1950 J, MADDEN 2,499,401

JET-PROPELLED AIRCRAFT WITH TILTABLE JET UNITS Filed June- 28, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 265 JZ Men J /MM,

Patented Mar. 7, 1950 e UNITED; STAIRES PATENT OEElCEu JET=BROPELLEDfAIRCRAFT'WITH'TILTABLE' JET UNITS'i JamcsmM caemsi'. Paul, Minn;

' Application Ja es, 1946, Serial No..,680,310

,2Glaimsi (Cl.'.244i+52.)i V 1... I u The present 'inventio'n' relates to reactionpower Referring more-particularlyto the drawings, control for aircraftand hasparticular relation thereis =shown th erein a preferred embodiment to means whereby aircraft utilizing the -reaction of "the invention incorporated in a flying wing two jet type reaction type of motor may bev steered and otherwise conyp of a craft Wherem I trolled whether the craft be at thecustomary rnotorsjll and are -mounted-and n wh ch-ear: lower altitudes orat extremely,highialtitudesii 8 provided With an air intake tube !2 and It is, accordingly; an object-of the inventtion e e we a e q' gg i to provide-means whereby a reactionpowered air- It -S n that the tubes i4 and I a are-1eraft may be positively t n w t spectively mounted in universal assembliesI6 and mum of effort. Y in IT and that the motors in and H-- are connected A furtherobjectofthe'invention istheeliinina- Wlih the Intake tubes n tion of the necessity forailernns; elevators vand g w e qf f 22522222225 d to be rudders and a simplification of the control sys- I 'm ors an a h tem in aircraft powered by reaction motors. d bymeans of hydlfauhc pumps 2 of W r A further object of the invention is the prog g jf 2 are Fij i for cache 5 e mo ors. an ar con ros are g ifg gj figg gjgfi for accomphshmg the provided in th ii t's compartment 21 lior Inc;-

It is to be understood,:"in'- the following specififigg gf plstons" 22 1c cation that Wherever the expression: f x-i p Ref-erence to-Figure 6 will disclose-one form I-notmm that W S x-pressll fi 1 3i? M the hydraulic control may take." It will be read- 1g g g i 1 2 255, ily apparent that the pilot controls 'the "movet er wor 6 mac b v f ment'ofthesmalle'r piston'22 and-thatthe moveith: assassinsassist mini a arr ars 1- f movemen '0 "a arger 'pis on roug e a very rapid cycle,,an examplezof the tyPe f me'ans-of the fluid medium'l i- Movement of the 65 the: German 37-1" bomb; -usedm*world larger piston 23", which isattached 'to the motors ar l0 and H lo means of the lugs 2 1, moves the mo- It is also to be understood, in the following spetors lo in the desired direction L cification, that wherever the expression jet tube Reference to Figures 4 and 5 will disclose is used that such expression shall Include any tails of the construction of the universal assemtype of tube or opening by which the reaction blies wherein there is provided a split gimbal ring gases are released- I 25 which is held together by gimbal ring side Other and further Objects Will become plates 26. The gimbal 25 is mounted in a strucent from a reading of the following specification tural part of the aircraft and will allow for taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which: versal movement of t jet t 4 Figure 1 s a plan view, partly brPken w Reference to Figures 7 to 10 inclusive, will dis- Of an embodiment of the invention In use m a close various positions (exaggerated from the norfiying Wing type of aircraft mal for the purpose of illustration) which the Figure 2 is a Sectional View taken Substen' jet tubes may take in order to accomplish certially along line 2-2 of Figure tain particular maneuvers in an aircraft such as Figure 3 is a Side elevational View 0f reerer hereafter described. In Figure '7 there is shown tion motor and the universal assembly mounted a d i w of the tube as they would appear on the jet tube, when the pilot has set them to cause the plane to Figure 4 is a reduced elevational view of the dive. In Figure 8 there is disclosed a side view u sa a y Shown in Figure 3, of the tubes as they would appear when the pilot Figure 5 is an elevational sectional view of the' h ved th t l so as t cause t detail of t e universal assembly, craft to climb. In Figure 9 there is shown a side Figure 6 is a Sectional View Of a hyd aulic pu p view of the tubes as they would appear when the used for control, and so pilot has moved the controls in such a manner Figures 7 to 10 inclusive are exaggerated repas to cause the aircraft to bank. In Figure 10 resentations of the various positions that two jet there is shown a plan view of the tubes as they tubes may take in the ordinary control of an airwould appear when the pilot has moved the concrait having the present invention incorporated. trols in such a. manner as to cause the aircraft therein. to turn. .Inother words, in Figures 7 and 8 the tubes are so controlled as to take the place of elevators normally utilized in aircraft; in Figure 9 the tubes are so controlled as to take the place of ailerons normally used to cause banking in a plane and in Figure 10 the tubes are shown in a position wherein they are causing the identical efiect caused by movement of the rudder utilized in ordinary aircraft.

In operation, it will be apparent that the pilot may cause the movement of either motor 10 or i universal assembly 26, the swinging movement being pivotal relative to such axis selectively in either a vertical or a horizontal plane through such axis, the vertical plane being individual to the unit while the horizontal plane is common to both units. Since assembly 26 is located in a mid-zone of the length of the jet tubes, the actual swing of the discharge end of the tube is relatively small physically, but since the axis of the unit will swing bodily on the assembly axis, the direction of discharge from the tube will accord with that of the swung unit axis and therefore in the proper direction to secure the desired steering action, while retaining the range of swinging movement of the tube discharge end within small limits and thus not materially affect the relation of the jets to the width of the aircraft.

While the range of shifting movement of the discharge ends of the tubes is small, thisdoes not materially affect the ability to accurately control the extent of shift, since the mechanism for providing the shift is operative in connection with the motor zone of the unit with the mechanism thus located a much greater distance from the axis on which the shift is made than is the discharge end of the tube; as a result the range of shift in the mechanism zone is largely increased and therefore capable of meeting the conditions of piloting activities requiring small calibrated adjustments, since such adjustments affect the bodily swing of the unit axis, the discharge end of the tube moving through its proportional part of such axis swing.

While but one form of the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many minor modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

1. In an aircraft, an aircraft body, a pair of laterally spaced power units mounted in the midzone of the width of said body, each unit including a reaction jet motor, jet tube, and accessories, the jet tube of each of said units being supported within a respective universally tiltable support, a pair of air intake means fixed at the front end of said body, a flexible conduit connecting each of said air intake means with a respective power unit, and means for independently and selectively tilting each of said unit in any desired direction.

2. In an aircraft, an aircraft body, a power unit mounted substantially midway of the width of said body, said unit including a reaction jet motor, jet tube and accessories, the jet tube of said unit being supported within a universally tiltable support, air intake means fixed at the front end of said body, a flexible conduit connecting said air intake means with said power unit, and means for tilting said unit in any desired direction.

JAMES H. MADDEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,291,032 Lesem Jan. 14, 1919 1,742,461 Cuddy Jan. 7, 1930 1,788,218 Wettstein Jan. 6, 1931 2,396,568 Goddard Mar. 12, 1946 

